“(Granting citizenship) is a procedure, a necessity. For us, this is our land and we see no reason to be anything other than people of the land.” — Bob Baker, cultural advisor to the Squamish Nation and co-founder of Spakwus Slolem
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Selfie sticks were almost as ubiquitous as Maple Leafs at Canada Place on Friday, as at least a couple thousand Vancouverites enjoyed their first live Canada Day celebrations since 2019.
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There were no fireworks this year, but red and white were the colors of choice, with a rich splash of orange All Lives Matter T-shirts.
“This is his first Canada Day, we are so excited,” said Azim Hassan, holding his five-month-old son Carim and his Maple Leaf-themed onesie in his arms.
“This is the first Canada Day that we can celebrate live since we became citizens,” added the Syrian refugee.
Onstage, four North Shore moms raised the energy quotient to 11 with their dance and song routine on the Kids’ Stage at Jack Poole Plaza, one of three stages in Canada Place on Friday.
Cherine Casillan, one of the four dynamic personalities behind Mom Bop, was born at VGH in 1975, a year after her parents emigrated from the Philippines.
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“This is the pinnacle for me, born and bred, to be in the spotlight in Vancouver,” Casillan said.
“I’m getting a little excited because it’s July 1st,” he added, before taking a moment to collect himself.
The group got together during COVID to perform for children and their parents, and will even soon be traveling to England to perform in Liverpool.
“This is fantastic,” said fellow Bopper mom Jolie Rochard-Choreajian, whose parents emigrated from Trinidad and Tobago in 1971.
“My parents came here, they started from scratch,” said Rochard-Choreajian, her family in the crowd at the Kids’ Stage. “Canada Day has always been our celebration, and now I’m here performing, oh my gosh, it’s crazy.”
Trinidad and Tobago cultural society from BC was one of the many groups that gave the event a multicultural flavor.
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“The main reason I came to Canada,” said Marilyn Perrin, president of the Trinbagonian Provincial Society, “was because of the opportunity.”
Which he definitely found since he came to Canada in 1974, he said.
“Canada offers so much freedom, so many doors open for you.”
The downtown Vancouver celebration was one of a couple dozen Canada Day events held across the Lower Mainland.
Opening the Canada Place festivities was led by the West Vancouver Youth Band, with Spakwus Slolem (Eagle Song Dancers) dancing and drumming behind them.
Bob Baker, cultural advisor to the Squamish Nation and co-founder of Spakwus Slolem, had coordinated with WVYB when he introduced the Squamish Symphony three years ago.
“Canada Day, well, it’s another day,” Baker said, adding that he is still celebrating Indigenous Month. “It’s good to be here playing live and feeling the energy and spontaneously sharing that energy.
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“To express how we feel about things, it’s good to do it live and in color. To neutralize the negative energy and move forward on the right path.”
Canada Day, pre-COVID, was a day to welcome new citizens with pomp and ceremony, an irony not lost on Baker, whose own people were not considered Canadian citizens until 1960 despite having lived here since time immemorial.
He took a moment to turn and take a panoramic look at Coal Harbor and the land of Squamish beyond.
“(Granting citizenship) is a procedure, a necessity,” he said. “For us, this is our land and we see no reason to be anything other than the people of the land.”
the squamish symphony, a merger of First Nations music with a symphonic band, it’s a song that Baker caught, music coming back from the ancestors or the Creator that Baker was pleased to share with Doug Macaulay, lead director of the Youth Band.
The director took the piece to Vancouver composer Robert Buckley and asked him to reimagine it as a piece for the WVYB symphonic band.
“To be here and do this seminal West Coast work at Canada Place, nothing more could be asked for our young people, members of the Squamish Nation and all Canadians,” said Macaulay.
